LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 01: Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith arrives in Downing Street for a cabinet meeting on May 1, 2012 in London, England. Today's cabinet meeting will be the last of the parliamentary year before meeting again for the State Opening of Parliament on May 9. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Iain Duncan Smith splashed out £75,000 of taxpayers' money on media training for gaffe-prone junior minister Lord Freud and officials at the Department of Work and Pensions, a Freedom of Information Request by the Huffington Post UK has revealed.

Critics seized on the revelation to condemn the DWP's "ridiculous waste of money" as the department revealed that it spent £74,074 since May 2010 on teaching 253 people how to look good on camera and to handle journalists.

The DWP confirmed that the people who received media training included local Jobcentre district managers and "external relations" staff, but they were unable to break down how much was spent on training millionaire Lord Freud to handle the media. The minister last received a media training session back in 2011.

Lord Freud shows off his media training as he talks about the jobs market back in February 2012.

Labour MP Teresa Pearce, member of the Commons Work and Pensions committee, told HuffPostUK that the DWP's £75,000 bill for media training was a "waste of money".

In response to the revelation that Lord Freud was among those who received training, Pearce said: "I hope he kept the receipt."

"I have seen no presence in my local press of Jobcentre Plus spokespeople and as the department has fully staffed Press and Media office, I think this is a waste of money."

Here are the 5 crassest statements made by ministers - was the DWP's £75,000 media training bill good value?

Dia Chakravarty, political director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "This is a ridiculous amount for any government department to waste on PR training.

"Taxpayers don’t want to see their hard-earned cash being spent on making ministers and mandarins more media savvy. The DWP should focus on delivering results with welfare reform, not on looking better on camera to explain when things don’t go right."

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: "This covers the cost of media training for a department of around 100,000 staff since 2010, and it's sensible that new ministers and staff who speak to the media are given initial training."

According to Government credit card records, the Treasury last year paid for two sets of Rada courses – £1,541 in October and £1,500 in February – just days after the Chancellor warned of the need for further cuts.

The Department of Health, meanwhile, spent just over £3,500 for three courses in 2012 while the Cabinet Office ran up a £612 bill in December, 2012.

And the Department for International Development spent £2,370 on coaching in 2012/13.

A Government spokesman said: "Civil servants need the right skills to perform at the highest level and deliver better, more efficient services for the public."